Curtain



May 16, 1939. A. E. PHELAN 2,153,762 I CURTAIN Filed Feb. 17, 1951 VZmaEsTerZyPbeZd 22 Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3Claims.

This invention relates to window curtains and has particular relation tothose curtains which are provided with rullles.

In the making, hanging and laundering of the usual type of windowcurtains, great care has to be exercised in order that the curtains whenhung will present a proper appearance. Rufiles, when applied to the mainbody of the curtain, often do not look well after laundering because ofthe difficulty in making a smooth surface adjacent the inner edge of therufile where it is attached to the main body of the curtain. And nomatter how well the ironing work is done, the ruiile presents a darkerappearance at its inner 15 edge where it is gathered or plea-ted, thandoes the adjacent surface of the main body of the curtain. In addition,the gathering of the curtain to the window frame, usually below itsmiddle, causes a much darker portion when viewed from the inside of theroom.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an improvedwindow curtain.

Another object of the invention is the production of a window curtainwhich while not losing its artistic value will reduce to a minimum thediiierence in light transmission in different portions of thewindow-covered by the curtain.

A further object of the invention is the production of a curtain theruffle of which has a 30 smooth, unpleated and ungathered edge whereattached to the main body of the curtain.

A still further object of the invention is the production of a curtainhaving a cut-in portion at one side, thus reducing the amount ofmaterial to be drawn to one side of the window frame.

Another and still further object of the invention is the provision of acurtain having a ruflie and valance which are cut on the bias.

Other and further objects of the invention will 40 be apparent to oneskilled in the art from a reading of the complete specification andclaims.

Referring to the drawing wherein I have illustrated an embodiment of myinvention,

Fig. 1 is a View of my invention as applied to a single curtain.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the curtain body.

Fig. 3 is a lay-out for the cutting of the ruffle and valance strips.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the complete rufiie and valance strip.

Similar reference characters refer to the same or similar partsthroughout the specification and claims.

In preparing the main body of the curtain, the material is cut to theproper width and length, allowing for the ruffles, casing and heading.The main body of the curtain which I have designated III in the drawingmay be provided with a rectangular section between corners H and I2 asshown in Fig. 2. A cut-away portion as I3 is provided for the tie-backeffect, producing, preferably, a rectangular portion between corners i4and I5 as shown on Fig. 2. A rounded portion as at I6 may be provided atthe lower corner below the cut-away portion [3. Between the roundedportion l6 and the corner ll, the bottom is shown as being straight.

The strips for the valance [9 and ruiile l9 are cut of the desired widthon the bias, preferably, a true bias. The method of cutting the valanceand rufile strips is shown in Fig. 3, wherein l8 represents the strip ofuncut material and I9 the bias-cut strips cut on an angle of 45 from theside edge of the strip l8. These strips are pieced together as shown inFig. 4, to produce the required length.

The outer edge of the curtain body l0 and the outer edge of the rullleI9 and the lower edge of the valance [9 are first hemmed. When hemmingthe valance and ruffle, the hem should be stretched slightly to allowthe stitching to give with the material and also to give a slightfullness to the free edge of the ruffle l $1 and valance Is in thecompleted curtain.

It has been found to be preferable for the rufile at its top, to have atapering effect. To bring this about, the angular end of the rufflestrip I9 is utilized. The straight edge 202| which is substantially orexactly parallel with the threads of the strip I9, is sewed to the maincurtain body beginning at the point where the lower portion of thecasing is to be located, the corner at 2|, being slightly rounded asshown in dotted lines on Fig. 4.

As the ruille l9 is sewed to the main body ID of the curtain, thematerial is eased but without any substantial gathers. This sewing ofthe ruille edge continues to beyond the point 2|. Beyond the point 2|,the ruffie strip will be secured with its bias edge to the edge of thecurtain. The sewing of the ruflle l9 to the main body ill, continues inthe manner described until a point adjacent the curved portion i6 isreached. From this point great care is needed to ease the ruflle as muchas possible, to a point beyond curved portion l6 without any substantialgathering, to give the desired fullness to the ruffle. When the ruffleis secured to a point beyond the curved portion IS, the rufile is easedslightly and sewed on out to the corner I1.

The casing and heading are now formed. The upper rectangular portion ofthe curtain body is folded over and sewed in place, the upper portionforming the heading l, and the lower portion forming the rod casing loas shown in Fig. 1.

When the heading and easing are finished, the valance It!* is sewed inposition, easing slightly.

Curtains made according to this invention, have many advantages over theordinary curtain. In the ordinary curtain, the thick folds at thetieback give a bunching effect and appear to be thickened at this point.In the curtains made in accordance with this invention, the lack ofbuchiness due to the cut-away portion, gives the curtain at and belowthis point, an appearance of a uniformity of thickness with the upperportions of the curtain. This uniformity of thickness is furthered bythe lack of gathers of the ruille and valance on the curtain-body edge.

By the smooth continuous surface between the curtain body and rufile andbetween the curtain body and valance, the effort in ironing the curisreduced to a minimum. This is due to the fact that the iron can passfrom one surface to the other without being hampered by the usualgathers along this line.

This curtain may be made of any suitable mate al. I have found thatexcellent results may be obtained by the use of organdie.

In describing the invention, I have gone into considerable detail as tothe construction of the illustrated embodiment. It is to be understood,however, that the description and drawing are merely illustrative andthat modifications and changes may be made without departing from thespirit of the invention and within its scope as claimed.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A curtain for windows and the like comprising a body portion having awindow-side edge. and a bias-cut ruffle having a bias-cut edge attachedto the body portion on the bottom edge of the curtain and extendingalong and attached to that edge of the body portion opposite to thewindow-side edge, the rufile and body portions each having smoothportions adjacent to and throughout the line of attachment.

2. A curtain for windows and the like, comprising a body portion havinga window-side edge, the edge opposite to the window-side edge being cutin where the curtain is to be held back, and a bias-cut rufile having abias-cut edge attached to the body portion on the bottom edge of thecurtain and extending along and attached to that edge of the bodyportion opposite to the windowside edge, the rufile and body portionseach having smooth portions adjacent to and throughout the line ofattachment.

3. A curtain for windows and the like comprising a body portion having awindow-side edge, a bias-cut ruffle having a bias-cut edge attached tothe body portion on the bottom edge of the curtain and extending alongand attached to the edge of the body opposite to the window-side edge,the rufiie and body portions each having smooth portions adjacent to andthroughout the line of attachment and a bias-cut valance at the top ofthe body portion, the valance and body portions being smooth adjacenttheir line of attachment.

ALMA ESTERLY PHELAN.

